Infections in vascular surgery

The frequency of postoperative wound infections after 304 vascular surgical procedures was studied. Mean age of the patients was 67 years and the male-female ratio was 5:1. Seventyfive per cent of the operations were of elective type. Wound infections occurred in 12% and was in the majority of cases caused by staphylococcus aureus. Wound infection caused prolongation of hospital stay from 11.9 to 31.3 days. A higher frequency of postoperative wound infections was found in diabetics, in patients with manifest gangrene, in patients with long preoperative hospital stay and after operations with inadequate hemostasis. Infections are potentially dangerous and in this series they caused loss of limb and life in one patient and loss of limb in one.